Tomatoes

Asparagus, couscous and feta salad

| roeliaschoeman

Especially for #WellnessWednesday!

Trying my best to get into this healthy living thing again!  Sigh… undoing the ‘damage’ of the past year is taking much longer than I thought.  And yes, patience is apparently a virtue.  And yes, apparantly you need to have more than just 1 healthy meal once in a while. #Denial #TheStuggleIsReal

Lunches are normally okay, and then I fall off the wagon a bit in the evening.  Is that what they call ‘balance’?  I tried, okay!  🙂  #OneMealAtATime  Will not give up!  🙂

entire-kitchen

I ALWAYS go for quick and easy – prepared a batch of couscous Monday morning – a little too much, it was in fact enough for 3/4 people, so we may have another couscous salad for lunch tomorrow 😉

Anyway!  Here we go – no ‘real’ instructions needed, salads are easy like that 🙂

Serves 1

90g couscous prepared + 40g crumbed fat free feta

90g (or a bit more – don’t let asparagus go to waste, it is expensive enough as it is!) steamed fresh asparagus

100g mixed variety tomatoes (love the beautiful colours of these ones I got from Woolies)

Lettuce to serve

Salt and Pepper

You can of course just mix everything together, but I like the look of a ‘layered’ salad – first lettuce, then tomatoes, then couscous and feta mix, and top with steamed asparagus. Season to taste – I just drizzled it with a bit of garlic-infused olive oil.

And voila!

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Roasted Tomato Soup with Risoni

| roeliaschoeman

A lovely filling and tasty soup!  🙂  I added the risoni (pasta rice or orzo) to add a little more ‘body’ to the soup – you can have some chunky bread or toast with it, but it actually isn’t necessary, it is filling enough as is 🙂

10 ml olive oil

800g cherry/baby tomatoes

1 onion, quartered

Fresh thyme

400ml chicken stock (if vegetarian – use veggie stock)

200g cooked risoni (tip: cook in only for about 8 minutes, it tends to get soggy quite quickly!)

1/2 tsp Garlic and Herb Spice (I use Robertson’s Masterblends)

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

To serve:  low fat feta (about 30g per person if serving 2, 15g if serving 4 ‘starter’ portions)  and fresh parsley

Place tomatoes, onions and thyme sprigs on a baking sheet (with foil and non-stick cooking spray) and a drizzle of olive oil.  Roast in a pre-heated oven at 180C for about 30 minutes (until tomatoes start to blister)

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Transfer to a pot (medium sized, stove top), and remove some of the thyme sprigs (it can get a little ‘tough’.  Add stock, spice mix, salt and pepper and simmer for about 15 minutes.  You can add more stock if you find it too thick.  Liquidise (I used a stickblender – liquidise the soup in the pot).  Stir in cooked pasta rice.  Simmer for another couple of minutes to make sure the pasta rice is the same temperature than the soup.  Dish up and serve with feta and fresh parsley (I actually wanted to use fresh basil, but we were all out!  The parsley was yummy as well.   And how ‘Italian’ does it look?  :):)

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Tip:  Hubby added blue cheese instead of low fat feta and said it worked well!  Also, if you prefer a more ‘meaty’ meal – serve with some fried bacon bits.

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Makes 2 large portions (that’s how we had it!) – or 4 ‘starter’ portions.

If serving 4:  1 CC, 1/2 Protein, 2 Veg, 1/2 fat

Coconutty Curried Lentils with geelrys (yellow rice)

| roeliaschoeman

Yes, if it is Thursday night it must be “Vegetarian” night!  Yay!

Needed to put a quick meal together – so this is where meal prepping and planning comes in!  I usually cook and portion food like brown rice and lentils in advance so that it is easy to throw a healthy and wholesome weekday meal together.

So here goes – Coconut Curried Lentils (with geelrys).  Geelrys is a traditional South African dish – directly translated it means ‘yellow rice’.  Rice is cooked with turmeric to give it a lovely, warm yellow colour and is usually served with raisins.  But I left the raisins out this time around – simply because I didn’t have any!  LOL!

First – the Yellow Rice:  I had some pre-cooked brown rice in the fridge, I usually freeze it in 140g portions – 2 CCs.  I popped the frozen rice in a pot, topped it with boiling water and 1/3 tsp turmeric.  Bring to a quick boil, don’t cook it for too long otherwise the rice will become mushy.  Drain and keep aside.

Curried Lentils

100g chopped Onions

5ml Olive Oil

1/2 tsp ginger and garlic paste

1 heaped tsp curry powder (your choice – mild, spicy, hot!  I decided to go with Woolies Cape Malay curry powder – a slightly sweet, mild curry powder)

1/4 tsp turmeric

200g cooked lentils (again, had it pre-cooked and frozen, just put the plastic bag I froze it in, in some hot water for a few minutes to thaw)

100ml chopped tinned tomatoes

80ml coconut milk

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

Fresh coriander to serve

 

Fry onions and spices in olive oil until onions are soft – you can add a few drops of water if the mixture cooks dry.  Stir in rest of ingredients and simmer until most of the liquid has cooked away.  Add yellow rice, stir through and simmer for a minute or two.  Serve with fresh coriander.

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Serves 1 (LARGE portion – you can divide it in two) 2 CC, 2 Prot, 2 Fat, 1 Veg

 

 

Lentil Spaghetti Bolognaise

| roeliaschoeman

I probably mentioned it before, but think I am an undercover vegetarian.  Simply because I am just naturally attached to the ‘V’ options on the menu.  And that is it!  So when I get the opportunity to have a vegetarian dinner at home, I grab it with both hands 🙂  Thursday nights are my ‘chill nights’ at home.  Just me, our puggies and a duvet!  I try to watch a favourite movie/series and sip on big cups of tea.  But my attention span doesn’t always allow me to finish watching anything!  LOL!  But that, is another story altogether.

Anyway, the aim of this post – LENTIL SPAGHETTI BOLOGNAISE!  It is your classic, basic bolognaise recipe using lentils instead of minced beef 🙂

100g onion, chopped

10ml olive oil

5ml garlic and herb paste (you can use less if you HAVE to :))

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon tomato paste

300g cooked lentils

5ml Italian Herb mix (dried) – you can use fresh herbs as well, but I was all out!

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 sachet Canderel Sweetener

Fry onions in olive oil until soft, stir in garlic and herb paste.  Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Serve with spaghetti according to your formula, and sprinkle with marjoram (dried or fresh!)  Tip:  I often ‘bulk’ up my pasta with zucchini or carrot strips, or even mashed butternut 🙂

Easy. Peasy.

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Serves 3:  1 Serving = 1 Protein, 1.5 Veg, 1 Fat (rounded up)

Smoked Snoek and Brown Rice Salad

| roeliaschoeman

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70g smoked snoek, flaked

140g cooked brown rice

100g cherry tomatoes (I used Woolies’ exotic tomatoes – beautiful colours!)

20g chopped onion

30ml low fat mayo

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

Lettuce and chopped fresh parsley to serve

 

Mix all the ingredients together and serve on a bed of lettuce with fresh chopped parsley

 

Serves 1:  2 CC, 1 Prot, 1.5 Veg, 1 Fat

Baby Potato and Seafood Stew

| roeliaschoeman

Baby Potato and Seafood Stew

 

Serves 2

Per person: 2 CC, 2 Veg, 1 Fat, 2 Prot

 

400g parcooked baby potatoes, quartered

100g red onion, chopped (1 Veg)

10 ml olive oil (2 Fat)

1 tin WL chopped tomatoes (2.5 Veg)

½ tsp garlic, crushed

½ tsp chopped chillies (adjust to taste)

200g Mussel meat (2 Prot)

290g shrimp (2 Prot)

 

Micro veggies to serve

 

Fry onions in olive oil until soft, add garlic and chilies. Stir in rest of ingredients and simmer of 15 minutes (or until potato is soft). Top up with stock/water if needed.

Serve with micro veggies J

Roasted Tomato and Garlic Bean Soup (with Shortcut Croutons)

| roeliaschoeman

Adapted from Fresh Living Magazine July 2015

 

Serves 2

1 Serve = +/- 3 Veg, 1.5 protein, 1 fat, 1 CC

 

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500g tomatoes, quartered

3 peeled garlic cloves

2 rosemary sprigs (I used more!)

10 ml olive oil

1 tin 410g baked beans in tomato sauce

1.5 cup chicken stock (vegetarians can add veggie stock instead)

Salt and Black Pepper to taste

Sprinkling Italian Herb seasoning

1 TBS Tomato Paste

3 slices Albany Ultima – toasted and cut into croutons, quick and easy shortcut!

Fresh parsley to serve

 

Combine tomatoes, garlic, rosemary and olive oil in a Ziplock/plastic bag and shake to coat. But on baking sheet (lined with tin foil and treated with non-stick cooking spray) at 200C for 45 min.

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Transfer to saucepan and add baked beans, chicken stock and seasoning. Simmer for about 15 minutes on medium heat.

Liquidize and serve with fresh parsley and croutons

 

Brazilian Fish Stew

| roeliaschoeman

Brazilian Fish Stew

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(adapted from Dizzy, Busy and Hungry Blog)

Serves 2 – 1 Fat, 2 Protein, 2 Veg

10ml olive oil

100g onion, chopped

1 TBS lime Juice

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp crushed garlic

560g white fish (I used Kingklip), cut into cubes

100g yellow pepper, cut into strips

200g tinned tomatoes

Freshly ground black pepper and salt

125ml lite coconut milk

Fresh coriander to serve

Fry onion in olive oil, spices and garlic on medium heat until soft. Add yellow pepper strips and fry for about 4 minutes. Add fish, tinned tomatoes and season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer on low heat from 20 – 30 minutes. Stir in coconut milk and heat though. Serve with fresh coriander and starch of choice (we had it with pasta rice) 

You know my ‘trick’ w.r.t the coconut milk – I use fat free milk with a few drops of coconut essence (can be found at baking supply stores), instead of ‘normal’ lite coconut milk. If you use coconut milk, add an extra ½ fat serve from your allowance (1/4 per person)